Finishing the Race – Strong! (2)

 

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part 2

 

“Luke, the beloved physician sends you his greetings, and also Demas” (Col. 4:14).

 

What must Demas have felt like when his greetings were included in Paul’s letter to the Colossians? Gratified? Grateful that he was included in the letter? Thankful to be identified with Paul in Paul’s imprisonment?

 

Paul’s letter to Philemon accompanied his letter to the church at Colossae, and in that letter he wrote, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.” How might Demas have felt to be acknowledged as one of Paul’s “fellow workers”?

 

“Say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it’” (Col. 4:17).

 

Is it possible that Demas compared himself to Archippus? Is it possible that Demas thought, “I am faithfully with Paul, fulfilling the ministry that God gave me. I will never need such a warning from Paul or from anyone else”?

 

When we look at Demas in Colossians and Philemon he is keeping good company. He is identified with Paul in his imprisonment. Demas is a member of an apostolic cohort proclaiming the Gospel and supporting Paul. How might Demas have been feeling? What might he have been thinking?

 

While we don’t know the answers to these questions, since we share a common humanity with Demas we can explore possibilities. If our names had appeared in place of the name Demas in Colossians and Philemon, what might we have been thinking and feeling – to be identified with Paul the apostle in his critical ministry?

 

Let’s not forget that Paul was in prison. To be identified with Paul took courage; there was always the possibility that you might be next, that you might be sleeping next to Paul on any given night.

 

But then we have, “Demas…has deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:10).

 

What happened?